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Tom Foley is seen with Superior Court judge nominee Anthony Avallone before speaking at a primary candidate's forum at the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut's offices in Waterbury in July 2010. Avallone is a lobbyist for the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut and has been its general council since 1993. Republican-American archive

HARTFORD — Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley accused Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of handing out a state judgeship and a six-figure pension that will go with it as a political favor.

Foley slammed the Democratic governor for nominating former state Sen. Anthony Avallone of New Haven to be a Superior Court judge because Avallone will only be able to serve for slightly more than three years before he will be required to retire.

Avallone, a self-employed attorney, will turn 67 in December, and the mandatory retirement age for state judges is 70.

Under state law, Superior Court judges can receive a full pension equal to two-thirds of their salary regardless of how long they serve on the bench. At this time, that comes to $103,724.53, according to the Judicial Department.

As a former state lawmaker, Avallone received a pension of nearly $2,230 last year.

"Being a judge is one of the most honorable and important positions in public service. Such a nomination should not be used to repay political favors by paving the way to a gold-plated pension using taxpayers' money," Foley said.

Retired judges can become senior judges, and hear cases for the per diem rate of $232 a day while still receiving their pensions.

The governor's office responded to Foley's criticism by questioning whether he is advocating age discrimination.

"It sounds to me like Tom Foley is saying we should take a person's age into consideration when making appointments, which would be a violation of state and federal law," said Andrew Doba, the governor's director of communications.

Foley is considered the leading Republican candidate for governor. He is the best known Republican in the Quinnipiac University poll, and he outpolled all potential GOP rivals in head-to-head matchups in the latest voter survey.

Foley called on Malloy to withdraw Avallone's nomination or secure an agreement that he will not accept a pension — or, in the alternative, get him to take a reduced pension.

He said the Avallone nomination is symptomatic of two major problems in state government — pension spiking and the failure to properly fund the state's pension system.

"First, it is another example of how ordinary citizens are getting larger than warranted tax bills heaped on them because of the system of political favors that Gov. Malloy has implemented at the Capitol," Foley said.

Avallone is a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee. He served as a state senator from 1983 to 1993, and he co-chaired the Judiciary Committee for a time.

Avallone remains a well-known figure in New Haven politics.

Most recently, he served on the transition team for New Haven Mayor Toni N. Harp. Harp, a former state senator, received Malloy's endorsement in the all-important Democratic primary for mayor.

The city of New Haven is a Democratic stronghold that voted heavily for Malloy in 2010, helping him secure a narrow margin of victory over Foley in the closest governor's race since the 1950s.

Malloy's 18,606-vote margin in New Haven was the largest of the state's five largest cities. His overall margin was just 6,404 votes.

While Malloy has yet to formally announce for re-election, he could use another strong showing in New Haven to pull off another statewide win.

Avallone is a registered lobbyist. He has earned nearly $132,590 since 2009, according to state records.

His clients have included Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut Inc., the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Authority, TransCanada Power Marketing Ltd., Crius Energy LLC, and Starion Energy.

This year, the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut Inc. has contracted to pay Avallone up to $10,635 to lobby on its behalf. He been the trade group's general counsel and lobbyist since 1993.

Foley seized on the Avallone nomination to call attention to the financial condition of the state's pension system.

The State Employees Retirement System has a funded ratio of 42 percent, according to the state comptroller's office. It has unfunded obligations of $13.3 billion. The state-run Teachers' Retirement System is only 55 percent funded, and it is carrying unfunded obligations of $11.1 billion.

Foley said the fact that Malloy would nominate Avallone when he is so close to the mandatory retirement age of 70 shows the pension system is broken.

"It is representative of Gov. Malloy's unwillingness to address difficult spending issues like pension reform, an issue that Gov. Malloy continues to sweep under the rug leaving an even bigger problem for his successors and the citizens to deal with," he said.

" It's done all the time, and is part of the system. Doreen DelBianco was awarded a plumb state job after she was the only Democrat defeated for voting against the income tax. She's now retired on a nice 6 figure salary. Bill Cibes the same for his role in crafting the state income tax. Rowland & Rell did the same for their friends. Now Mike Lawlor, Kevin Sullivan, and other top flight Democrats will do the same. I'm surprised Martin Looney has not jumped on the state gravy train. "

" we sit back and let this happen all the time , make sure you e-mail your state rep and tell them that this type of political favortism has to stop.. this is going to be a $ 103,000 added to the $11 BILLION unfunded pension fund.. who do you think has to pay that bill sooner or later .. where will this $ 11BILLION come from ... the answer is, you and me from another massive tax hike .. vote these fools out of office "

" A business minded person like Tom Foley is what ct needs, not another politician. The problem is beating the numbers from the inner cities from those who are on the receiving end of the handouts and ideologues who can't see the real world through the rose colored glasses. New Haven has an abundance of both classes. "

" I voted and made phone calls for Malloy. Though not enamored with his performance, I am not convinced that Foley would be better.

The Republican back scratching would be just as bad, but presumably we could rationalize the state's finances. A curmudgeon is OK, that's personality. An intolerant right wing nut job is not OK (i.e. cutting back on LGBT rights, anti-choice proposals). Too often Foley looks like a nut job, so I guess it'll be Dannel for another term. "

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